In delegated staking, token holders (delegators) do not participate directly in the staking process but choose to vote or delegate their tokens to validators. These validators are responsible for securing the blockchain by validating transactions and creating new blocks. In return for their services, validators share a portion of the staking rewards with their delegators based on the amount of tokens delegated. This system encourages wider participation in the network and allows users with fewer tokens to benefit from staking rewards. It is commonly used in proof-of-stake (PoS) and delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) blockchain protocols.